The Fatal Believer
by comeandgetmebabe
Summary: “Don’t let your guard down. Axel will stop at nothing to turn you into a Heartless.” Still, Sora lets Axel join his party with the promise of seeing his friends again. But what if that was a warning to be heeded? AxelSora. AxelRoxas. RikuSora
1. Hollow Bastion

**Title: **The Fatal Believer

**Author:** comeandgetmebabe

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to Square Enix and Disney. **This story contains** **homosexuality between two men**, so if you don't enjoy that kindly don't read, I have enough to deal with. I am making no money off this at all, although I will gladly accept it.

**Summary: **"Don't let your guard down. Axel will stop at nothing to turn you into a Heartless." Still, Sora lets Axel join his party with the promise of seeing his friends again. But what if that was a warning to be heeded? (Axel/Sora. Axel/Roxas. Riku/Sora)

**NOTE:** Rejoice! I have written…**_AN OUTLINE!_**

Which is probably what I should have done for all my other stories, but I…am not bright.

So, GENTLEMEN, BEHOLD! It is a fic of monumental proportions. People who have read my other stories know that I enjoy incorporating aspects of the actual game into my stories, which is why this is going to be so infernally long—this is basically the whole second half of the game. Good for you, more to read. Bad for me, since I'll probably have to run back and forth from my computer to my PS2 to check things in the game, since reading through walkthroughs is REALLY tedious.

Those who, for some odd reason, are thinking of considering this a walkthrough obviously need to finish the damn game. It isn't a guide to the special "Axel Joins Your Party!" adventure, because that adventure doesn't exist. I mean, you know…there's that one part…at the end where you fight with him but…fuck it, you know what I mean.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Hey, check it out! I wrote a real, marginally serious disclaimer! Go me!

Enjoy

**/o/O/o/**

_Sora hacked at the last Nobody, squinting slightly. The sand in the aptly named Sandlot of Twilight town had billowed into clouds during the battle and some had been trying desperately to get into his eyes. He stood victorious and flashed a grin at Donald and Goofy when he heard the clapping from behind him._

"_Impressive."_

_Startled, Sora turned to face another hooded figure. He glared but didn't yet raise his Keyblade. The man spoke._

"_By the way, have you seen a man named Axel? I expect he's here somewhere?"_

_Sora's eyes narrowed. "Like I care." He raised his Keyblade, prepared to fight._

_The man continued as if Sora hadn't spoken. "You see, Axel's no longer acting in our best interest._

"_Is he with the Organization too?" asked Goofy, looking slightly perplexed._

"_Yes," answered the man curtly._

"_You havin' a fight?" quacked Donald._

_Sora sneered, keeping his eyes on the man in black. "Not a very organized Organization…"_

_The man pointed sternly at Sora. "Don't let your guard down," he said in a low tone. "Axel will stop at nothing to turn you into a Heartless."_

_Sora smirked. Who did this guy think he was kidding? "Gee, thanks for looking out for us, mister," he said as Donald and Goofy raised their weapons. "But I'm sure we can take care of ourselves just fine."_

"_Glad to hear it," said the man, and Sora could hear the smirk in his voice. "Axel aside…"_

**/o/**

Oh wow, _look_ at him.

Running up that path to the Dark Depths. Still panting from killing only a _thousand_ Heartless. Like that's so hard. He couldn't kill a thousand Nobodies, I bet. Pathetic.

But you have to give him credit. Sora has a lot on his mind. Kairi's been kidnapped, something terrible has happened to Riku, apparently, and Mickey is off running away again. Confronting Xehanort, doing that 'good guy' thing he does. Poor little Sora. I kind of wanna pinch his cheeks and tell him everything gonna be A-okay, because he's the kind of kid you can do that to. He looks _so_ very tired…

But hey, here come his friends! Donald and Goofy, back from whatever they were doing, probably fighting off fifty Heartless each. _Very_ strong allies those two are. They exchange pleasantries, make sure no one's dead, and off they go, put the path to where they've spotted the king. And hey, what do you know, Big Ears is talking to Xehanort. Or Xemnas, as he's known to everyone else.

"Xehanort!" cries Mickey as Sora and Co. run up behind him.

Xemnas looks out at the decrepit castle before him, the one where Maleficent is supposedly haunting. "How long has it been since I've abandoned that name?" he muses in a low voice. Xemnas was never one for 'getting to the point.'

Sora, however, is. "Out with it, Nobody!" he yells. So _angry_. Jeez, the Keyblade master is supposed to be so happy and full of light, what brought all this negativity on. Oh, that's right. His friends are missing. Poor little Light Boy.

Xemnas doesn't even turn. "I know nothing of any Kairi," he says, still gazing at the twisted spires of the dark castle. "As for Riku…" now he turns, smirking at Sora, Boy Wonder. "Perhaps you should as your king." And the look of Xemnas's face darkens.

Sora looks like he _desperately_ wants to make a comeback, but those words stop him. Ask his king? He asked him before. Should he ask again? Or is the Nobody just messing with his mind?

Before he has a chance to ask the now very uncomfortable King Mickey, Ole Big Ears decides to be heroic. "Stop!" squeaks the mouse king, and he barrels after Xemnas, jumping into the portal through darkness the Organization leader has just opened.

Sora runs after the king, but the portal has already disappeared. He waves his hand out wildly in a desperate attempt to go into the black hole, but alas, he cannot.

Oh _man_, now look at _this._

"He's gone…" whimpers Sora, his big blue eyes falling into a look of despair. He actually_ falls on the ground_, the big baby. He bangs his fist on the rocks, obviously upset, but at least he doesn't, you know, cry or anything. That'd be too much.

Goofy comes over and places a hand on Sora's shoulder, trying to give the boy some form of comfort. What a good friend. You have to wonder why Blue Eyes is so hung up on Riku and Kairi. What kind of friends were they to him? Riku fought him, beat him, nearly murdered him, stole his damsel in distress, set Sora on a wild goose chase. Riku got himself filled with rage and darkness and evil and depression and fear and violence and took it all out on Sora. He made poor Sora traipse through a castle of memories, an adventure the poor, dear boy doesn't even remember.

Riku played with little Sora's feelings, made the quiet whispers of thoughts that a fourteen year old has for his older, wiser best friend seem shameful. Made Boy Wonder keep them a secret. That damn Riku, he made Sora fall in love with him. And then he made Sora project these feelings on Kairi. Because Riku couldn't tell Blue Eyes that it was _he_ that Riku loved, not Kairi. Riku couldn't find a simple way to tell Sora he wanted _him_, to kiss and hold and touch _him_ for all eternity, in light or darkness. Riku made Sora laugh and he made Sora cry. He made Sora feel anger and despair, joy and euphoria.

He made Sora leave him behind a door that could never be reopened. He broke poor little Sora's heart.

But Sora's still looking for him. That's just the kind of guy he is, little _tyke._

Almost makes me sick.

He's also looking for Kairi, because at the end of the day, Kairi is a sweet girl. She's kind, caring, compassionate, other various words starting with the 'kuh' sound. Little Kairi had to go and get herself kidnapped, and now Sora has to, once again, run after his Princess of Heart, his own personal damsel in distress. Like he did before. Like he'll undoubtedly do again. You gotta love a kid who's prepared to do so much for two people who really haven't done that much for him.

You really do have wonder what's the big deal about Riku and Kairi when you compare them Donald and Goofy. After all, _those_ two only left Sora once, _once_, just because they were following orders. And then they disobeyed those orders to come back to Blue Eyes. Those are good friends. They're the ones who've helped him out more; who've dealt with his whole complex over freakin' Riku and Kairi. And they're the ones who are standing with him, right now, as he bangs his hand on the rocks that made up the Dark Depths and throws his little teenage tantrum.

"Sora, Goofy," quacks Donald. He looks like he wants to say something more, but then he gives a quack of surprise and looks at the castle. There are no more Heartless. It's completely empty. Well, this is a strange turn of events.

Goofy voices everyone's thoughts. "What's going on?"

"Way to fall right into their trap."

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the other star of our divine comedy. Apart from Boy Wonder, of course.

Sora and Co. turn to see a painfully thin young man leaning against the rock face, arms crossed, staring directly at the Trio of Good. His hair his spiked and red, splashes of black at the roots. He has little diamond tattoos under each eye, black like his coat, and what eyes those are. Acidic and green, dangerous and alluring. And they're boring directly into Sora's own shocked blue ones. The look on the man's face is stern, very different from the look that usually adorns his features: cockiness.

Sora and Co. run towards him, and get into their fighting stances. Obviously men in black coats are not very high on their list of "People We Want to Talk Things Over With Peacefully."

The man leans foreword and begins walking towards them. "Come on, it's a set up by Organization XIII. Xemnas is using you to destroy the Heartless—that's his big master plan."

"Xemnas?" squawks Donald, never the brightest bird in the flock.

The man tries not to roll his eyes. "The guy you just saw. He's their leader!" he cries out, exasperated. He taps his temple. "Got it memorize? X-E-M-N-A-S." He even spells it for them.

A look of dawning comprehension on all of the Trio's faces and Goofy says, "Organization XIII wants to get rid of the Heartless?"

Redhead gets that look of cockiness on his face again. It looks much better than the stern one. "Man you're slow. Every Heartless slain with that Keyblade releases a captive heart. _That_ is what the Organization is after."

"So what are those guys gonna do with the hearts?" quacks Donald.

The man snorts and smirks at them. "I'm not telling."

"Tell us!" shouts Donald, if you can understand him.

Sora, who's been oddly quiet this whole time, finally speaks up. "You…you're the one who kidnapped Kairi."

How he figures this out, I don't know.

"Bingo," says the man. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

That line gets really old really fast.

"Where is Kairi?" Sora pleads. He's not even holding up his Keyblade anymore, the moron.

Axel, for the first time, looks slightly uncomfortable. He scratches his forehead.

"Please!" cries Sora. "Just tell me!" And he looks _so_ desperate, it's almost as if he's asking about Riku. And who knows, maybe he is.

Axel closes his eyes for a moment, then looks at the sunset sky. "Look, about Kairi…" he looks Sora in the eye. "I'm sorry."

"Axel!" a voice from nowhere snaps. In between Sora and Axel appears the man who warned them of Axel in the first place.

"Uh oh!" hisses Axel. His eyes narrow and darkness begins to surround him.

Sora runs foreword, but the man with the X on his forehead throws his arm out to stop him. The blue haired man looks like he wants to say something, but Sora ducks under his arm, sprints foreword and leaps into the portal of darkness.

The blue haired man eye's widen a bit in surprise. "Sora!" yell Donald and Goofy, running foreword. But the portal has already disappeared.

But not the people inside of it.

**/o/**

"You! Stop!" yells Sora running out of the portal into some strange inter-dimensional walkway. The symbol of the Nobody's flies around him through eerie orange and green lights. Axel looks shocked.

"You! How did you…what did you…" Red apparently doesn't know how to respond.

"Where's Kairi!" yells Sora, brandishing his Keyblade. "Take me to her!"

"Listen, Sora, I can't," says Axel. "I've kind of…made a lot of people mad at the Organization, they're not gonna want me wandering around their headquarters anymore."

"I don't _care_ what they want or what you did!" yells Sora. "Take me to Kairi! _Please!_" he adds, pleading again.

Axel stares at Sora for a moment. He doesn't seem to know what to say. Then a sly smile graces his thin lips and he shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know what to say, kid, I can't help you."

"Yes you _can!_" shouts Sora.

"I mean, for all I know, they've already…you know…" he grins evilly at Blue Eyes.

"They've already _what?!_" Sora cries.

"You know," Axel's grin grows wider. "Killed her. They don't really _need_ her after all. They just need you."

"What…they…NO!" yells Sora, eyes widening in panic.

"I think I heard something about some guy named Riku running around their headquarters, though," says Axel, taking his eyes off Sora to examine his coat cuffs. "But by now they've probably caught him and are doing who _knows_ what do him." He looks up, straight into Sora's eyes. Green gazing into blue. And Axel, jerk that he is, he smiles at Sora, he grins at him. Shows all of his teeth. And that pushes Boy Wonder over the edge.

Sora lets out a strangled scream of rage and charges at Axel. This is very out of character for our little hero, giving into his anger like this. But I guess with the combined thoughts of losing Riku and Kairi…

Feelings make people do crazy things.

Axel smirks and pulls his flaming chakram out of thin air. And the battle begins. Sora doesn't remember, but he's fought Axel before, both as himself in the Castle Oblivion and as his Nobody. Sora hacks and slashes at Axel, trying to break him, to cut him, to kill him, all the while being patiently blocked by the Flurry of Dancing Flames. Sora, whose fury has reached new heights at this moment, shouts out a blizzard spell that hits Axel in the stomach. Axel gasps, chokes on his own shocked exclamation and his flaming weapons extinguish. Sora leaps into the air, reading to bring down a finishing move that will surely kill the redhead.

Axel flings his chakram at Blue Eyes. It hits him in the stomach.

Sora screams and falls to the ground, a few paces short of where Axel is lying. The redhead pulls himself up and saunters over to Sora. He kneels as Sora tries to catch his breath, tries to perform a cure spell on his bleeding abdomen. Axel lazily picks up the chakram where it has fallen next to our hero and presses the other one against Sora's neck.

"Wow, Sora, you sure are strong," drawls Axel with a sly grin. "Pretty scary when you get worked up." Sora tries hard not to breathe. If his Adam's apple moves even a millimeter, Axel's chakram would cut his throat in two. He can't even perform magic to mend his belly, which was steadily bleeding. "How about this. I'll take you to see Kairi…"

Sora, that miserable, gullible idiot, he actually looks hopeful.

"…if you let me travel with you and your friends. When you get strong enough to take down the Organization, I'll zap you over to their stronghold and you can have your way with them and rescue your girlfriend. How 'bout that?" He moves his chakram a fraction of an inch away from Sora's throat so Boy Wonder can speak.

"Kairi's not my girlfriend!" is the first thing Sora spits out, his cheeks almost as red as Axel's hair. Axel smirks and leans down, his nose almost touching Sora's. Looking into Sora's blue, blue eyes.

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"Will you…" Sora struggles for words. No one has ever been this close to him before. "Will you help me find Riku too?"

"Sure, no problem," says Axel easily. "I can't take you through the darkness, though. That's probably mess with your light and we might run into an Organization member." Axel still hasn't moved his head. He's still so very, very close to Sora. Their breath is mingling. "So, whaddya say, _Sora_? Yes or no."

"You…" Sora gulps, his throat nearly pricking itself on the chakram's tip. "You promise to help me find them?"

"Promise." Axel grins.

"_Promise?_"

"I _promise._ Cross my heart, hope to die, whatever else you say, I _promise._" And Axel suddenly hauls himself upward into a standing position, holding out a hand to help Sora up. "Come on."

Sora sits up and quickly casts Cure on himself. His stomach heals up without even a scar left over. He gazes up at Axel, his gloved hand outstretched. Just the way Riku had, back on the island when the Darkness came.

Axel's eyes are so green. Not the jewel-like aquamarine of Riku's. Green, like the poison apple the queen gave to Snow White. Green like the color of envy. Green like a terrible, wondrous plan.

Sora takes Axel's hand.

**/o/**

Sora falls out of the portal to darkness and lands in the gummi ship with a thumb. Axel steps out of the hole much more gracefully.

"Sora!" yelps Goofy, looking incredibly relieved. See what a good friend he is, he's been worrying about Sora the whole time he was gone.

"What're _you_ doing here?" Donald quacks dangerously, pointing his staff threateningly at Axel. Red is unperturbed.

"He invited me. So you better start treating me with some respect," says Axel smoothly, sitting in the chair normally used by Sora.

"It's okay Donald, I said he could come. He's gonna take us to Kairi and Riku as soon as we're stong enough." Donald looks affronted. Goofy looks worried.

"Gosh, Sora, are you sure we can trust him?" he whispers to Boy Wonder.

"I didn't have much of a choice," admits Sora. But he puts on a brave smile. That's another thing you have to love about Sora. I know if _I'd_ just spent the last fifteen minutes fighting for my life and nearly died in the process, I would _not_ be able to smile. He's so simple, Sora. "But he can help us out! And all three of us could take him down if he does anything…"

Sora is silent for a moment. Then he remembers where they all were when he'd jumped after Axel. "Hey, how'd you two get here?!"

"Gwarsh, Sora!" says Goofy, and he goes on to explain how the guy with an X on his face, Saïx (Axel stiffens at the name), called up a bunch of Heartless and said that they were using the escaped hearts to form Kingdom Hearts. How that would let the Nobodies become whole.

"But that means!" interrupts Sora because he has no tact. "That means that…that…the Keyblade…"

And once again, Blue Eyes has a crisis.

"No…what…is everything we've done…" he looks up at Goofy with his huge, blue eyes. "Maybe everything we've done…maybe it was all for nothing…" he looks away, down at the floor of the gummi ship. "What am I supposed to do if I can't use the Keyblade."

Axel snorts and rolls his eyes, for once keeping his big mouth shut. Donald shoots him a glare, but the redhead ignores it. So does Sora.

"Aw, don't worry Sora! Listen to what happened next!" and Goofy continues to explain how the Heartless only listen to who's strongest, how they're listening to the Organization now. He says how, just as a huge group of Heartless were about to attack him and Donald, Maleficent spoke. ("Maleficent?!" "Let him go on with the story, Sora!" "Sorry Donald…") Maleficent sucked Donald and Goofy into what they thought was the realm of darkness.

"No it wasn't," says Axel

"Huh? What?" Sora turns to Axel, confused. "How do _you_ know?"

"I _know_ what the realm of darkness is like. From what…" Axel seems to be having trouble accepting Goofy's existence. Which is good, because Goofy, by all laws of physics, shouldn't exist. "From what _he_ says, that was just some in between place Maleficent sent them to keep them safe. Trust me, that's _not_ the realm of darkness. I remember when—"

"Yeah, but there was someone there!" Donald cuts him off, determined to ignore Axel's presence. "It was another guy in a black coat, like _this_ guy," Donald jerks his thumb at Red. "But he didn't do anything. He just gave us this box." And from under his seat, Donald pulls out a plain white box.

Sora takes the box from Donald and examines it. "Seems normal," he says, turning it over.

"So can we open it now?" asks Donald, looking excited. He's obviously been waiting for this for a while, stupid bird.

"I guess so…" says Sora. Donald snatches it from his hands, looking entirely too eager.

"Are you sure you wanna open…" begins Goofy.

Donald rips the package open like a kid on Christmas morning. Axel rolls his eyes once again. He's obviously wondering if traveling with them is such a good idea. They're all kind of…stupid.

"…That?" finishes Goofy. The Trio peer inside and even Axel leans over from his (Sora's) chair to look inside. And Axel, upon seeing the contents, gasps.

Inside the box is a photograph and a sky blue ice cream pop. Donald hands the photo to Sora, who scrutinizes it. Axel leaves the chair and stands behind Sora, once again much too close. Sora feels his breath hitch in his throat. He needs to tell Axel to back off, but he _can't…_

Goofy, determined to accept Axel into the group (if Sora says he's part of their team, then by Golly he's part of the team) looks over Sora's other shoulder at the photo. The dog can't help but notice how shocked Axel looks.

"Gwarsh, it's the gang from Twilight Town," says Goofy. "There's Hayner, Pence, Olette…and…uh…um…"

"Roxas," says Sora, forgetting about Red for a moment. And for a split second, the shocked look on Axel's face is replaced with one of utmost longing. Then it goes back to being bored and sly. That's Axel for you. Red goes back and slithers into Sora's seat once more, leaving Boy Wonder with his friends on the floor.

"You know him?" asks Donald. It's obvious he's asking Sora.

"No…" murmurs Sora, still staring at the photo. "The name just popped into my head…this is Roxas."

If any of them bother to look, which they don't, they would notice Axel's hands clenching into fists at the sound of that name. Then slowly unclenching when the Trio turns their attention away from the photograph.

Donald takes a lick of the ice pop and is happy to report that it is both salty and sweet at the same time. This combination seems as though it would be disgusting, but the duck is obviously enjoying himself.

He, Goofy, and Axel all jump when the ice pop flies out of his hand (or wing, I can't tell with Donald) and Sora's Keyblade appears in his hand. This ice pop is another item to open a gateway. Starting their journey anew.

And the ceiling opens up and Axel is sure they're all going to be sucked into space and die, but it just turns into a strange gold-ish whirlwind. Sora rears back and does his strange dance with the Keyblade while Donald, Goofy, and Axel look on. Axel, who's been strangely quiet since the photo, watches in awe as the Keyblade master opens a new route to the stars. He's never seen the Keyblade used like that before.

Axel has only seen the Keyblade used to destroy. Never to create.

Sora finishes and lands on the floor of the ship once more. He grins at his compatriots. "Come on! We gotta go look for Kairi!"

Axel snorts. He realizes, as you should too, that it's not really _Kairi_ Sora's gunning for.

It is at this moment that Sora notices Axel is still sitting in _his_ seat. "Hey," says Sora, eyes narrowing slightly and smile leaving face. "That's my seat. I can't fly the ship if I'm not sitting there."

Axel looks around the cockpit dismissively. "Then where am _I_ gonna sit?"

"The floor!" squawks Donald, pointing at the ground.

"Naaahh, that's not really my thing. I like it here," Axel smirks at Sora. "You sit on the floor."

"Axel…" says Sora, losing patience. "I said you could travel with us but you have to go by _our_ rules. That's _my_ seat. Right now you have to sit on the floor. Deal with it."

Axel's green eyes once again bore into Sora's and Sora can't help but feel like he's being x-rayed. Like Axel is looking to his very soul.

"Tell you what," says Axel. "You give me that photo, I give you this chair."

"Huh?!" exclaims the Trio. You always have to repeat stuff for those three.

"You give me photo, I give you chair. Got it memorized?"

"Why do you want that?!" asks Goofy, dumbfounded.

"What's it to you?" snaps Axel. "Either gimme the photo or you're not going to any new worlds. And if you don't go to new worlds you don't get stronger. And if you don't get stronger…" he smirks at Sora once again. "You know."

Sora glowers at Axel and begrudgingly hands the Nobody the photograph, ignoring Jiminy's pleads that he needs the information for his journal. Axel stands up and saunters past Sora, just barely brushing past the boy. But Sora can feel him pass, feel the unnatural, flaming heat radiate off the older man and he shivers against his will. He doesn't know why. Plenty of people have brushed by him before. The only time he ever felt that shiver was the last time Riku…

Sora decides not to think about it. Because that would mess with the simplicity of his journey.

The little retard.

"I wonder who left this stuff for you guys…" Axel muses as he slides down the back wall of the cockpit. The photo his held tightly in his hand, creasing.

"Gwarsh, yeah," says Goofy. "Wonder if they're some sorta clue…"

"Who do **YOU** think left them Sora?" says Donald in a much louder voice than usual. As if volume alone would make Axel's presence go unnoticed.

"Riku?" suggests Sora, pressing some buttons on the console. He can feel Axel's eyes on him through the back of his neck.

"Ya think?" asks Goofy.

"You said it was a guy in black…I dunno, it's just a feeling I've got. Who else would leave it for us? Nobody in the Organization."

Axel gives a small cough but says nothing.

Sora flies towards the Land of Dragons, Axel's eyes on him the whole time. It's like Axel is looking for something inside of him. And Sora can't help but remember how that guy, Demyx, kept calling _him_ Roxas…

Hmm.

Looks like Boy Wonder isn't as dumb as I gave him credit for.

He might be catching on.

Because Axel would never follow him around if he didn't want something out it. And that something isn't a stupid photo, oh no.

It's the person in the photo.

The person who, unbeknownst to Sora, is in _him_.

Roxas. That's all Axel wants.

Poor, stupid little Sora. He would have done well to heed the blue haired Nobody's warning.

_Don't let your guard down. Axel will stop at nothing to turn you into a Heartless._

Poor, sweet, stupid, loving, gullible, naïve little Sora.

And poor Axel.

He has no idea what he's getting himself into. You have to feel bad for him. All he wants is his "best friend" back. And you can interpret the quotes for yourself.

So now, look at them. They're off. Flying high in their little gummi ship, ready to go on their adventure. Ready to take on a universe of Darkness and despair without even knowing how much they're about to bring upon themselves. The Trio flying off to _adventure_.

Only now they're a Quartet.

**/o/O/o/**

So, what do you think? I know this one is kind of choppy, but I promise it'll get better. More explanations and stuff like that. How Roxas and Axel met and fell in whatever form of they can "feel," all that jazz.

And I know, isn't it weird, DONALD AND GOOFY IN A STORY?! HEAVEN FORBID!

Also, in case you're wondering, no the narrator is not me. You'll find out who that is soon enough. Try guessing! I won't tell you if you're right, but it'd be nice to see if anyone can get it.

**MUSIC DROP!**

Remember **Guns N' Roses**? Yeah, me neither, but they did a great cover of **Sympathy for the Devil**, which is my favorite **Rolling Stones** song (along with **Gimme Shelter** and **Jumping Jack Flash**). Check all of those out if you want, but the **GNR** one if my pick of the day.

Review please!


	2. The Land of the Dragons

**Title:** The Fatal Believer

**Author:** comeandgetmebabe

**Disclaimer:** I own the can of soda I'm currently sipping from. Bought it myself.

**NOTE:** So, I finished my finals and wanna cool down a bit after this rather hellish year, but this story has been neglected for _way_ too long.

Apparently our narrator hates the Chinese. Or maybe he just hates humans. OMG A CLUE!!!11eleven. Or is it? I'm playing with your mind. OR AM I?!

About the Roxas Stuff: I know in Final Mix + there's a lot of back-story for Roxas and the rest of the Organization in general. However, as much as I love canon, I:

a) Don't understand Japanese and therefore can't figure out what they're saying and

b) Am perfectly happy with making it up. It works better with the story.

Enjoy!

**/o/O/o/**

Oh that Axel. He's unimpressed with the Land of the Dragons for all the wrong reasons.

He and the Trio of Good are standing in the ruins of a once gorgeous village. A village that was filled with laughter and joy and haystacks and gongs and Chinese architecture and vibrant colors. Now in ruins. Oh the pain. Oh the despair. Oh the agony of it all.

"Ugh, look at this place…" Red mutters as he and the Trio of Good walk through the burnt down village.

"It's pretty horrible," agrees Sora. "Shan Yu burned it down—he was taken over by Darkness. But we defeated him!" he adds brightly. "And now the people who lived here can rebuild." Sora smiles at Axel, showing all his teeth. Axel looks down disdainfully at Sora and rolls his eyes.

"Pfft, whatever," says Axel. He gestures at the black skeletons of once ornate buildings. Dick that he is, Axel says, "This was obviously done by _amateurs._"

See? All the wrong reasons.

Axel goes on for a few minutes about how flawed the technique the Shan Yu used to burn the village down was. He doesn't notice how utterly shocked, confused, and pissed off Sora, Goofy, and Donald look (respectively).

"How can you say that?" gasps Sora. "Aren't you worried about the people who lived here? They could have gotten hurt and you just…you just wish Shan Yu were more effective!"

"I don't _wish_ anything," says Axel. He leans in close to Sora, once again making Blue Eyes very, _very_ uncomfortable. "I'm a Nobody, Sora," Red whispers. "I don't _feel_ like wishing." He smiles at the look on Sora's face. "How 'bout this: I _wish_ Shan Yu had done a better job because…." He thinks for a moment, like he _really_ has to. "Because if these ruins weren't here, then the townspeople wouldn't have to clear them away when they try to rebuild. It would make it _easier_ on them."

Smooth, Axel, real smooth.

Dick.

"Oh…well…uh…" Axel is still entirely too close to Sora. And in the whipping cold up on the mountain, the heat that radiates from Axel feel _so_ good. Part of Sora wants to wrap his arms around Axel so he can feel that heat all through his body.

Fortunately, part of him remains sane.

Donald and Goofy both notice the tension between the two humans. While Donald is getting ready to lay a few well-chosen spells of Axel's conniving ass, Goofy tries to defuse the situation. Because Goofy, unlike most people on Sora's journey, is a good-hearted creature who truly deserves to called a Hero of Light.

"I wonder how everybody's doin'?" he asks. Axel straightens up from Sora (and Sora looks so…_conflicted_ when he does) and raises an arrogant eyebrow at the dog.

"'Everyone'?" asks Axel, because he's a jerk. "Who's 'everyone'? If the people who lived in this town were smart, they would have run away by now."

"He _means_ Mu_lan!_" snaps Donald. Because Axel, who's never been to the Land of the Dragon's before, is supposed to automatically know who that is.

"Oh. Okay," says Axel, now bored again. Sora gives Axel a perplexed look and is so about to say something when Donald cries out: "Hey look!"

All four turn with varying degrees of interest and lookie _here_. Running up the mountain is a figure cloaked in black—like an Organization member.

"Wait!" yells Sora, and he and Donald and Goofy scamper after the man in black. Axel lazily dawdles behind, still taking in the scenery. Of course, he could easily just teleport himself right on top of the cloaked man and get him on the ground, thus making it easier for all of us, but as I said before, Axel is a total jerk.

"Sora!"

All four of the boys turn around to see a Chinese woman, Mulan, running up the mountain. Ah yes, Mulan. The woman who couldn't fight to save her life when she dressed as a man, but as soon as she turned back into a girl could beat _any_one to the ground. She's almost as sickening as Boy Wonder.

Almost. Not quite.

"Mulan, hey," says Sora. "No time to talk. We gotta catch that guy!"

Mulan, who was just hunched over to catch her breath, stands. For a woman in such a hurry, she walks slowly and sedately towards our heroes. "I'm following him too," she says in a mechanical voice. She notices Axel, because Mulan is so damn observant. "Hey…you're wearing black too!"

"So's he," says Axel, jerking his thumb at Sora.

Mulan opens her mouth, then closes it again, like some gaping Chinese goldfish. Axel has that affect on people.

"Do you know—"

"No, I don't know who that is. I'm Axel, got it memorized? Don't you have someone to be chasing?" he drawls at the Sea of Idiots.

"Then let's GO!" squawks Donald, getting entirely too worked up. The four heroes run up to the Ridge, followed by the one villain who is going at a leisurely pace. At the ridge, Sora and Co. and Mulan all look around wildly, searching for the man in black.

"Ahem," coughs Axel, pointing. They all look up and see the man in black running up the mountain.

"Good work, Axel!" Blue Eyes mouths at him, because he wants to keep the element of surprise or something moronic like that. They all run up to the summit. Sans Axel.

Standing at the bottom of the summit. One false move and they could all just topple over the side of the cliff.

"Gwarsh, where's Axel?" asks Goofy, looking around for Red. Thank you for the observation, Goofy. You are truly one of a kind.

Axel takes this moment to teleport right next to Sora. When he pops up, their arms are touching.

Boy Wonder shivers. Not because of the cold.

Idiot.

Mulan sighs, looking around. And by looking around, I mean moving her head from side to side. Mulan is so very vigilant. "Looks like he got away…"

"How come you're after somebody from Organization XIII?" asks Goofy.

"What's that?" asks Mulan.

"It's a group of Nobodies who—" begins Axel, but Sora cuts him off.

"The guy in black."

"One of the bad guys!" cries Donald, crossing his arms. He gives Mulan a Significant Look and nods his head at Axel, as if to say _He's a bad guy toooOOOoooo._

"I knew it!" cries Mulan. "There's a rumor in the Imperial City about a spy in black lurking in the mountains. I'd been up here tracking him, but when you arrived, I lost him."

"Ahh…" murmurs Sora, not knowing what to say. Goofy looks sadly at the ground, like he's ashamed. "Sorry!" He sounds like he's going to cry. And after all poor Goofy has gone through to help his king and his friend, he sure has the right to.

Mulan smiles warmly. "Don't apologize, but I do wonder where he went."

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we get to see our heroes in action.

From the cusp of the summit comes a low rumbling, and the sudden appearance of hundreds of Rapid Thruster Heartless trembling at the edge. They come barreling downwards, with their five targets in sight.

"Again?!" squawks Donald.

"What do you mean 'again'?!" yells Axel, looking up at the stampede of Heartless.

"I'll explain later, first things first!" yells Sora, and he and the rest of the Heroes of Light run up the hill. Boy Wonder stops, however, and turns. He sees something. Something that shouldn't be there.

Sora doesn't know how Riku escaped the Realm of Darkness. He doesn't know what he had to do to get out. He doesn't know how Riku hacked and slashed his way through Castle Oblivion, he doesn't know the sacrifices the silver haired boy make in the Dark City, and he has no idea whether the man with the hood covering his face even _is_ Riku.

But Sora has a feeling. That's what separates him from Axel, by the way: his feelings. In case you haven't _gotten_ that yet. Sora feels so strongly that it's gotten him into and out of jams. And when Sora looks at the cloaked figure, he feels what he felt when he looked at Riku—a tightening in his throat, a shiver down his spine, from fear, from longing, from who knows because Sora feels so much he can barely breathe sometimes.

But he sucks all this emotion up and yells "Hey! You! Quit sneaking around!"

The man in black just holds out his hand, which can mean one of two things:

One: I wanna play with you, Sory-Wory or

Two: _Come and fight._

And the battle begins.

Oh, you've got to be _kidding _me.

_How_ Sora can't figure out this is Riku is completely beyond me. The same stance, the same grace, the same fluid motion, the same _weapon!_ A sword shaped like a bat wing, sharp and twisted and so obviously _Riku._ Why can't Blue Eyes _see_ this? Any idiot can.

Including Axel, who has stayed at the bottom of the summit to watch.

His acid eyes are trained on Sora's every move. He's waiting for Boy Wonder to fall, to fail, to cry out for help. With the never ending barrage of Rapid Thrusters and the grueling battle against the man who's obviously Riku, Sora doesn't stand a chance. And Axel knows this. It's all part of his plan.

Sora falls down on one knee. Head whipping around wildly, he spots Axel dawdling at the bottom of the summit. "Axel!" he cries as the man in black approaches and the Rapid Thrusters prepare to swoop down in one final attack. "Axel, HELP!"

Axel does nothing. Red just smiles his serpent smile at Sora and holds up one gloved hand. He shakes his index finger from side to side.

"C'mon, Sora."

"What?! AXEL!" Sora bellows. He tries to climb to his feet but is smashed back down to the ground by one of the Heartless.

"You didn't say the magic word," Axel calls out. He's enjoying himself, the prick.

"AX_EL!_" yells Sora, as the man in black comes closer. Sora whips his head around and his eyes connect with Red's. Sky blue and poison apple green.

"_Please,_" he whispers.

Axel feels something shift in his stomach. He remembers, because that's the only thing Nobodies can do.

He remembers when those same eyes looked into his. Dull and emotionless, those eyes had stared up and him and those smooth, rose petal lips had whispered…

"Close your eyes," Red yells to Sora. Sora, against his better judgment, does so.

Searing heat rushes around Sora, enveloping him, consuming him. He can hear the Heartless being destroyed; feel their hearts brush past him as they go on to the mysterious Kingdom Hearts. And then he feels lips right next to his ear and warm breath on the side of his face.

"You can open your eyes now," Axel murmurs.

A moment's hesitation and Sora opens his eyes.

All the Rapid Thrusters are gone. The air is filled with smoke—the only thing that remains of the Heartless. Before Redhead and Blue Eye's stand the man in black. His face is still encased in black, an enigma. He and Sora stare at each other for a moment, blue eyes fading into black. If the guy in black _is_ Riku, who knows what he's thinking right now. Looking into the darkness of his hood is like staring into a black hole.

Axel is bent over Sora. He's almost draped on top of the boy, gloved hands still smoking from his attack on the heartless. His face is so very, _very_ close to Sora's; Red can feel the soft, almost invisible hairs on Boy Wonder's cheek pressed gently into his tattoos. His left arm is resting on Sora's back. His ebony coat is almost indistinguishable from Sora's ridiculous pocket/zipper-covered outfit. He's kneeling so close to Sora that if I didn't know any better, _I'd_ think…

I know better. You know better. The-Guy-Who-Is-Probably-Riku doesn't.

He holds up a hand at our hero and not-quite-hero, an unreadable gesture. Then he runs down the mountain like the coward Riku is.

And let me say right here, Riku is a coward. Not only because of the reasons I gave you before: his unwillingness to admit how he _feels_ to Sora, his darkness, his hatred, his jealousy, but also because Riku has spent this whole time running _from_ Sora and not _to_ him. Which is one of the three reasons why Sora is still on his quest. Because he _needs_ Riku, he _wants_ Riku, he _feels_ for Riku and he just can't _live without_ Riku.

Sora's feelings are going to rip him apart one day

Boy Wonder wrenches himself from Axel's grasp and scampers after the man in black, Axel left behind. Red stands upright, waves the smoke from his fingers away and walks lazily behind Sora, following his huge footprints.

Sora's been getting so _frustrated_ lately. _Gosh_. While he's running after the Guy-Who-Is-Probably-Riku, he murmurs to himself, "That guy…No…Why…would he? Riku?" And he keeps on running.

Sora has been chasing Riku for so very long now. He's spent so many nights lying awake, listening to Donald's monotonous quacks and Goofy's bubbling snores. He's let the dark, secret thoughts in the back of his mind take over; he's closed his eyes and imagined Riku's pale hands running over his body. The Blue Eyed Boy Wonder, Hero of Light dreams about the Anti-Keyblade Master feeling him and touching him and making him moan. Sora's woken up, covered in sweat, his heart clenched with the fear that Donald or Goofy heard him. But they never have. And if they did, he knows he could just say he had a bad dream. He's allowed that.

But Riku…aquamarine eyes, silver hair, perfect pale skin…Sora isn't allowed to have _him._ Not the way he wants him.

Axel walks lazily behind Sora and finally catches up with him when Blue Eye's has stopped. They both stare out at the path leading back down the mountain for a moment in silence.

"…So," says Axel. "Don't you have something to, you know, say to me?"

"Huh?" says Sora, looking up at Axel. "Oh…right." He gives Axel one of his big toothy grins, even though there isn't much feeling behind it. "Thanks, Axel. I knew you'd be great for the team!"

Axel looks down at Sora for a moment with an unreadable look on his face, then snorts. "Wow, Sora, you're really sincere."

"I was being sincere!"

"'Golly, Axel, you sure did save the day!' C'mon, Sora, Nobodies don't even have _feelings_ and we could put in more emotion than that." Axel grins at Blue Eyes. Like this is some kind of old joke.

Sora glares at Axel and fights the urge to stick his tongue out. That would be too playful, too coy, too much like something he would do with his friends instead of a villain who forced himself into the Trio of Good. So Sora just pouts and looks back down the path, ignoring Axel's sniggers. But finding them kind of…_something_ at the same time. Not cute. Not weirdly charming. Something else he can't quite put his finger on…

It's almost like Axel's laughter is…reminiscent of something.

Donald and Goofy decide now is a good time to show up. They walk up behind the two humans.

"Are you okay, Sora?" asks Donald.

Goofy looks around Sora, searching the horizon. "Didja get 'im?" 

"Hmm...Oh—he's gone," says Sora, still looking for The-Guy-Who-Probably-Is-Riku and still _not_ looking at Axel.

"What?! You lost him?!" yells Donald as Mulan shows up. Donald turns on Axel and looks like he's going to explode.

"Hey, hey, don't look at me!" says Axel, holding up his hands as if to say 'stop.' "I actually helped save the day!"

"Yeah…it's okay, Donald." Sora looks over at Mulan and his emotions change like flicking a light switch. "Anyway…what now?"

"I think we better get rid of all the Heartless first," says Goofy. Donald approves of this message.

And here's the rumbling again, another new batch of Rapid Thruster's ready to impale our heroes on their noses. The Heartless' noses. Not the heroes' actual noses.

_Crash_. Everyone yelps as the summit moves, even Axel. "What was that?!" asks Mulan, glaring around her like a Chinese Fighting Fish.

She turns to Sora. Mulan is In Control. "Come on. We better get off the mountain."

"Okay," Sora agrees. The five of them walk off the mountain, to go back down to the village. Sora, however, stops at the path. He turns around and takes one more long look at the summit.

"Whatcha lookin' at?"

"ACK!" Axel's head is right next to Sora's, his eyes also looking at the perfect snow-covered rock.

"I don't see anything…" murmurs Axel. He stands up, smirking at Sora, who's clutching his heart in shock. "C'mon, Sora. Don't dawdle." And Red saunters down the mountain path, obviously pleased with himself.

Blue Eyes runs down the path to the ridge, where his friends and Axel have been waiting for him. Sora ignores the amused smirk on Red's face and looks down from the ridge, at the Imperial City below. And now the rumbling starts again, making Sora and Co. stumble and shake. They all turn to see a giant dragon burst from the summit, it's body covered in bells and horns and other ridiculous accoutrements. The beast flies off to the Imperial City, its bells clanging as it soars.

Mulan, Master of All the is Obvious, cries "It's heading for the city! We've got to warn Shang!" Because no one else in the Imperial City is going to notice the giant flying monstrosity heading towards it. No one at _all._

But the group still makes their way down the mountain, slaying Heartless after Heartless as they go. Axel takes his time walking down the mountain, however. He admires the scenery, goes at his own pace. Because in the end, he can easily teleport to where he has to be. Which is right next to Sora at the Imperial Square.

"ARGH!" yells Sora when Axel pops up next to him in the city. "Axel, _please_ don't do that," he pleads.

"Do what?" asks Axel in a bored tone. He looks up from Sora, and checks out the city. "Hmm. Everything's fine."

"Well, now…" says a voice. Three Chinese men walk to them, a tall thin one, a tall fat one, and a short, barrel-shaped one. The short one looks like he's going to kill the person nearest to him.

"What? Is that a problem?" asks Donald testily.

Or maybe the short one will just kill Donald. But then again, that's the look he has on his face all the time.

Ling, the tall thin man, says "Nah!"

"We're just glad you're not in black cloaks," says Chien-Po, the tall fat man.

"You saw him?" cries Mulan.

"Yeah," says Yao, the man who looks slightly homicidal. "He's in the Palace."

The Trio of Good and Mulan run past the three soldiers. "To the Palace! Hurry!" yells Mulan, and the Trio follows her up to the towering building before them. Axel takes this time to appreciate Chinese architecture. Sometimes you just want to punch him in the face.

Axel keeps his leisurely pace and gets up the palace stairs in time to hear Mulan say, "Over here!" She runs to a pillar that goes high enough to get through an opening in the roof. The Trio of Good immediately catches on, shocking as it may seem, and the boys begin to climb.

Axel admires the gold designs on the locked palace doors.

Mulan, woman that she is, has a hard time climbing up the pillar and nearly falls to either her doom or a concussion. But she grabs onto the slick wood in time and pulls herself back up. Blue Eyes, Hero of the Light and all, he reaches out a hand to help her. But Mulan looks up at him and nods, a look that means, "I don't need any help." And Sora understands this nod. Because he's just in_credible._

Boy Wonder looks over his shoulder and yells, exasperated, to Axel, "Are you coming?"

Axel looks up from the gold and says, "In a minute. Don't worry." He smiles at Sora and looks back at the gold. But Axel isn't leaving the front any time soon. Because he knows what's inside those doors.

Organization members have the keen ability to sense other Nobodies. Not feel them, sense them. And Axel has a good idea of what's behind the huge palace doors. And he knows he does not want to fight who he thinks he may have to fight.

Meanwhile, while Axel is being a wuss, the four heroes make it inside the palace through the roof. A black-coated figure stands before the doors leading to the throne room, pondering how to get through them. Sora and Co. jump from the ceiling beam they were standing on and Donald, the bird who should by all accounts be able to fly, stumbles and falls on his face. Fortunately for the team, sans Axel, he rights himself.

"Wait!" shrieks Mulan. The man in black stiffens. He knows he's been caught. Because he can hear. He turns the find our heroes ready to fight. Sora stands up from his stance, however, and walks foreword, slowly.

"…Riku?" he says uncertainly. Donald and Goofy look at each other like _Huh?!_

And the man in black moves. He reaches up. He grasps the edge of his hood. Sora sucks in a sharp breath. Could this be it? Could he have finally, _finally _found Riku?

No.

The man removes his hood and reveals himself to have high cheekbones with scars running across his face, an eye patch, and long, _long_ black hair mixed with silver.

This, it seems, is the antithesis of Riku.

"Nope," says the Nobody in a laid back voice. "Never heard of him."

And suddenly the Trio of Good and Mulan are surrounded by Sniper Nobodies, hanging from nothing. Sora glares at the Nobodies, calculating in his head the best way to defeat them, when he notices that the Organization member is no longer standing at the throne room door. He turns to see the man running to the doors leading out of the palace, but before Sora can do anything, the Snipers strike.

Axel is standing at the top of the stairs outside the palace when the Organization member, now known by his name Xigbar, runs out of them.

"Hey," says Axel, arms crossed.

"Huh?" says Xigbar looking up. His eyes widen for a moment. Then he grins a grin that doesn't reach his eyes. "Heeeey, Axel. What's up? I heard a funny rumor."

"Really?" says Axel. He puts his arms at his sides, casual but alert. "Who about?"

Xigbar has his hands at his sides as well, same stance as Red. His one yellows eye is trained on Axel's every move, just as Axel's green ones never even flicker from Number Two. "It was about you, actually."

"Really now," says Axel. He begins to walk around and Xigbar follows in suit. They're moving in a circle now. Almost as if a duel is coming on. "What's rumor say?"

"Rumor has it _you've_ joined up with the Keyblade Master." Xigbar shakes his finger at Axel. "Come on, man. After all you went through with Marluxia in the Castle Oblivion, I'd think you'd have more sense than to do the traitor thing again"

"It's not like that. I don't care what he does. I'm with him for one reason and one reason only."

"Oh really?" asks Xigbar, stopping abruptly. Red stops as well. "And what's that?"

"You know what it is," says Axel. His eyes are narrowed and his fingers are just _itching_ to call up his chakrams.

"Do you really miss Roxas that much?" asks Xigbar in a quiet voice.

"What's it to you?" snarls Axel.

"It's not what it means to _me_. I'd love to have Roxas back, he was a cool kid. Kinda too serious for my tastes, but you liked him enough. What matters to _me_," says Xigbar, pulling two huge guns out of the air, "is how your actions affect the Organization."

Axel says nothing. There is a burst of flames and his chakrams are clenched firmly in his hands.

"I don't _care_ about the Organization," he says. "Not anymore."

"You don't care about anything," sneers Xigbar. "You _can't_ care about anything. You're a Nobody, remember? Not matter how human Roxas made you feel, you're still _nothing._"

The two men glare at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Then Xigbar grins his laid back grin and his guns disappear. "But hey, that's you, man. You can do what you want. But you _know_ what's gonna happen when Xemnas finds out what you're doing."

"Xemnas can go to—" Red is about to finish his obscene statement when the ludicrously attired dragon from the mountain swoops in on the two men. Xigbar gives a snort of laughter.

"I wouldn't use the Portals of Darkness if I were you," he calls to Axel. "We'll getcha in _there_." And with one final grin, Xigbar disappears, leaving Axel to deal with the dragon.

Right now the Trio of Good and Mulan decide this would be a good time to come out of the palace and come face to face with the dragon, who's decided Axel would make an excellent meal.

"You guys wanna take this one?!" yells Axel, teleporting behind Sora just as the dragon snapped its jaws shut at where he was standing.

"Yeah!" yells Sora. The dragon gives a roar and flies back down to the Imperial Square, waiting for its opponents. "Come on!" cries Sora, and the group, once again sans Axel, runs down to the square.

Axel stays behind. He turns and stares at the place where Xigbar had been only moments before. "So this is it, then?" he says quietly. "It's a war now, isn't it."

Axel turns to look back at Sora, who's just jumped up on the dragon's back and is trying to kill it.

"I'll get you back, Roxas," Axel murmurs. "I promise. I don't care who gets in my way, I _will_ get you back."

See? Plan.

Axel watches for a while as Sora and Co. work hard to destroy the monster. Finally, they hit it where it hurts. Mulan stupidly stands underneath the dragon as it falls from the sky. Apparently _running the hell away_ isn't high on her List of Things to Do When Giant Things Fall on Her.

"Mulan!" yells her boyfriend Shang. Axel blinks. He didn't even notice the red caped man run past him. Shang gets to Mulan and holds her, just in time for the dragon to evaporate while its heart rises towards the sky.

"Way to go!" cries Sora, jumping in the air with excitement. Shang helps Mulan up and they smile at each other, holding hands.

Love.

The Trio of Good gives the two lovers impatient and awkward looks. Axel, from his place at the top of the steps, rolls his eyes and tries not to remember standing like that with someone else. He decides this would be a good moment to join the crowd.

"So!" says Axel, popping up entirely too close to Sora and making the boy jump. "Was it Riku?"

"Huh? No," says Sora, getting over the initial shock (which is much easier to deal with the fifth time around) and turning to face Axel. "But there was _another_ guy in black who was definitely Riku! He talked to the emperor and was _rude_. If that's not Riku, then I don't know who is!"

"Hmph," says Axel, but he smiles at Blue Eyes. Then his green eyes focus on Shang and Mulan. "Hey, you too! Any day now!"

"Ax_el!_" hisses Sora, elbowing him in the side. Axel just grins as Shang and Mulan pull apart, obviously embarrassed.

Out of nowhere, fireworks burst in the sky. The sky turns into a blazing, colorful fantasy. And Sora, once again, can't help notice how close Axel is standing to him. And Boy Wonder can't help but wonder why, _why_ that proximity makes him feel so…_lightheaded._

The group goes back to the throne room, where the emperor is waiting for them atop his mighty chair. The five stand before the old king, four of them standing straight as an arrow and one of them (the red haired one) gazing around the room, eyes lingering on the crane statues.

"Once again, you have served China well," says the emperor. "You and your new friend." Axel looks up from the cranes. His eyes now look as they they're trained on the emperor, but he's really admiring the dragon insignia behind his head. Red could have stared at that room for hours, but the emperors' next two sentences brings him back to the world.

"It would please me to reward you. What is it that you wish?"

Donald shakes his hands in the air, jubilant. He could go for anything with monetary value. Goofy's stomach rumbles audibly. And Axel…

Axel's eyes land on Sora. And they're almost _hungry_ with longing.

"Well…" says Sora, rubbing his chin. He looks up at the emperor, ignoring Axel's stare or just not noticing it. "You say a guy in black came to see you. What did he say?"

"That is all you request?" asks the emperor, slightly taken aback.

"Yes," says Sora, and Donald and Goofy look crestfallen. Goofy once again looks like he's going to cry. Guess Sora doesn't feed his dog that often.

Axel just continues to stare at Sora. The serious look on Boy Wonder's face reminds him of…

"Dragons have crossed our land and left a great web of paths," says the emperor. "These dragons wield much power, and they are the source of many gifts to both man and nature. But it would seem someone of evil intent disturbed one of our dragons, and transformed it into what you call a Heartless."

The emperor sits up a bit straighter. "It is my belief that this young man came to warn me of that danger. Then, I could alert and prepare my troops."

"Did you?" asks Sora. Even though the answer is so obvious Donald could figure it out.

The emperor chuckles. "I was about to, but he told me the situation had changed."

Shang suddenly exists and says, "He said four 'wise guys' had arrived and they would take care of things."

The Trio of Good and Axel all look at each other, Goofy and Donald slightly confused but amused, and Sora excited. Axel is just surprised (or as surprised as a Nobody can be) that Riku added him into the group to make it'four.'

"That's gotta be Riku!" cries Sora. He grabs onto Axel's arm and grins up at him, because Axel is the closest person to him. "Hear that!"

"Yeah, I heard. I'm right here," grumbles Axel. But he makes no move to remove Sora's arm. He looks over at Goofy, who's just looked up from staring worriedly at Donald. The dog catches the Nobodies' eye.

"But what's he doin' hangin' out with Organization XIII?" asks Goofy, both to Sora and to Axel, who would know better than Blue Eyes.

Axel shrugs, playing dumb. He knows. We all _know_ he knows. But Axel can't give away what's happening with Sora's one true love. That would take away from Red's plan to get back the one person who made him feel whole.

"No idea," says Sora, ignoring Axel's shrug. "But at least I finally know he's okay." He smiles at his friends. "That's good enough."

Axel's eyes narrow. Goofy wipes his nose and Donald nods. "Yeah! That's good!"

That isn't good though, is it Red? Because there's no way, there's no possible way for Axel's plan to work with Sora still so obsessed with Riku. There's no way for Axel to take Riku out of the picture either. So Axel, the Flurry of Dancing Flames, he's going to have to fight Sora's affection and replace it. He's going to have to shift the way Sora feels about Riku to himself. So brilliant. So genius. So _cruel._

Yes, cruel. Because if you remember, kids, Axel doesn't _want_ Sora. Axel doesn't give a_ damn_ about Sora; he doesn't give a damn about anything. The only thing he cares about, the only thing that made him feel remotely whole, is Roxas. Roxas is somewhere inside of Sora, somewhere buried deep. And Axel knows the way that made Sora to turn into a Heartless was self-sacrifice. But Axel doubts that'll happen again, he's smart. So there's only one way to get Sora to turn into a Heartless, to have Roxas be reborn.

And that's to get Sora to give into the Darkness.

And for that, Axel needs Sora to fall in love with him.

And since half of Sora is Roxas, hey, good job Red, you're already halfway there.

See?

Cruel.

**/o/**

_Axel stood on top of the fence in front of the Haunted Mansion of Twilight Town. In his arms he held a small black trench coat, black boots, black pants, and the rest of the Organization outfit, only in a very small size._

"_Man, not even Larxene would fit into these…" he murmured. The redhead sighed and looked up at the soft sunset sky. "Where _is_ he?" Axel said aloud._

_Suddenly, below him, a black vortex that Axel knew as Nothingness appeared. It grew and grew and grew and twisted and twirled into the shape of a young man, maybe fifteen years old, not even. The boys' naked form landed on the soft grass and he slowly stood. The boy looked around, his head moving sluggishly. He finally turned and saw Axel standing atop the fence._

_Axel gazed down at the boy his acid green eyes drowning into the bottomless, emotionless depths of the boys blue eyes. Axel floated down to the ground and stood before the boy._

"_Do you know your name?"_

_The boy said nothing. He stood completely still for a moment, then slowly shook his head._

_Axel nodded. "Do you feel anything?"_

_The boy said nothing. Then, "…What is…feeling?"_

"_Something you don't have anymore. But do you remember it?"_

_The boy was silent. "…No."_

"_Oh," said Axel. Everyone else remembered emotions. Perhaps Xemnas should have been the one to give this boy his name. "Do you want a name?"_

"_..."_

"_Do you want meaning in your life?" asked Axel, remembering what he'd been told to say._

_The boy said nothing, his blond hair blowing in the soft wind around the mansion. Had he been a normal boy he would be freezing cold without clothes on. But this was not a normal boy._

_The boy nodded at what Axel had said. Axel nodded as well and held out his hand._

_In the air, in a burst of flame, the letters S-O-R-A formed. "That used to be you," said Axel. The letters meshed together into one huge fireball and rushed around the boys' head. When the reappeared in front of his face, the formed a new word: R-O-__**X**__-A-S._

"_That's the new you," said Axel, rather awkwardly._

_And the boys' dull, emotionless eyes blinked. "Roxas..." he repeated._

"_Yeah. You're Roxas. I'm Axel. Got it memorized?"_

_Roxas looked up at Axel as the flaming letters slowly faded away. "Yes."_

"_You want some clothes now?" asked Axel, holding up the black bundle._

_The newly dubbed Roxas nodded mutely._

"_Well…what's the magic word?" asked Axel. This kid had to know _some_thing._

_Roxas stared up blankly at him._

_Axel leaned foreword and whispered, "Say 'please.'"_

_Roxas looked up at him and Axel couldn't help but noticed how smooth his skin was and how think his eyelashes were. How soft his hair looked and how delicate and plump the boys' lips were._

_Those lips moved and whispered in a small, detached voice: "Please…"_

_Axel handed Roxas the clothes. As he handed them over, Roxas's hand brushed Axel's gloved one._

_And for the first time since he's been born from Nothingness, Axel felt a swoop in his stomach; a flame burst in his chest. And for one brief, sweet moment, it was as though he had his heart back._

**/o/**

"Axel…AXEL!"

"Huh?" says Axel, snapping back into reality. He was gone for a long time there.

"Did you hear?" says Sora happily. "Mulan and Shang are going to work together to protect the emperor! That means they'll get to spend time together!" Boy Wonder grinned.

"Wow. That's uh…that's _great_," says Axel, still in a daydream filled with naked Roxas's and Twilight Town's and clothes. "Fantastic."

"I know!" says Sora.

"Sora cried a little, how'd you miss it? A-hyuk!" chortled Goofy, smiling up at Axel.

"Yeah…" Red comes to his senses and grins evilly down at Sora. "You _cried?_"

"Aw, come on! It's cute!" says Sora.

"Yeah, but crying? Come _on!_"

"Oh, like you _can_ cry!" snaps Donald. The rest of the Trio of Good and Axel go silent.

"Donald…" Goofy says reproachfully.

"No, no, it's okay," says Axel easily. "It's fine. He's right, I can't cry. Really, it's okay. Hey, Goofy, you were hungry before, right?"

"Uh huh," says Goofy. His stomach rumbles in agreement.

"Hmm. How you feel about…" Axel grins devilishly at Donald. "_Roast duck?_"

Donald quacks and brgins to run for the stairs as a giant fireball forms in Axel's hand. But the redhead just grins and puts the flame out. He smiles at Sora, a warm smile that he reserves only for Roxas and people he's trying to trick. Sora just laughs helplessly. It's kind of funny to see Donald run around like that.

"Sora!" squawks Donald, "He was trying to cook me!"

"He was just having some fun," says Goofy. The dog turns to Axel, looking serious for a moment. "But don't do that again, okay?"

"Okay, okay, just messing with you," says Axel. He shoots a grin at Sora, who just can't help but return it.

Oh Sora.

You're falling right into Axel's trap. Falling into a pretty smile and acid green eyes.

Just like you did before.

**/o/O/o/**

_**THIS STORY HAS BEEN IN WRITING LIMBO FOREVER.**_

That being said, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm gonna be gone for two weeks, so no updates for a while. But I promise I'll be better this summer. At least, I hope I will. I'm going to have a lot of time to write where I'm going, so just know in your hearts that CGMB is sitting somewhere and scribbling out ideas for the next chapter of whatever the hell else I'm writing.

I like how Axel admires architecture. I don't know why. I just do. A little quirk, what the hell.

It is now three fifteen in the morning. I am exhausted. I have work tomorrow. GOOD NIGHT! RAPE BABIES! ETC.!

Reviews would be appreciated, although I also accept cash. Hint hint.


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